'Barry Baker: Aspiring Serial Killer' set for Amazon Prime release

In any creative endeavor, there’s  always a learning curve. The more you work on something, the better you get at it.

For Tony Ahedo, writer and director of the new locally shot web series, “Barry Baker: Aspiring Serial Killer,” that holds true. When he set out last October to shoot the pilot episode, it was a matter of diving into the project with whatever resources were available at the time.

Since then, Ahedo has seen the project continue to grow and improve. He’s secured a commercial release for the pilot episode this Monday, Oct. 31, via Amazon Prime. He also spent 16 straight days shooting the next two episodes. And he says the series has hit its stride.

“It’s already grown a lot,” he says. “There’s a big jump, even from the pilot to the second episode. Everything is bigger and better — gorier. We had a bigger budget; we had more time to plan; and we had the luxury of all the establishing work being out of the way. The audience knows the characters now, and the actors are more comfortable in their characters’ skin.”

The series, which was born out of a class assignment during Ahedo’s time as an undergrad at Ringling College, follows the (mis)adventures of a man named Barry Baker, who, disillusioned with what he sees as a life without purpose, stumbles into a new career path — a serial killer.

However, as the series’ title implies, Baker isn’t exactly cut out for his new line of work. His attempts to learn the ropes of his new cold-blooded career result in a darkly comic commentary on society’s obsession with violence and its prolific perpetrators.

With a bigger crew and a bigger budget, Ahedo says he was able to tackle the subject more effectively. The crew working on the pilot consisted of eight people. For the second and third episode, a 25-person crew, including members flown in from Los Angles and New York, worked to bring the story to life.

Additional crew, including four dedicated production designers, a professional sound engineer, visual-effects artist and an on-set film editor not only made the process more efficient, but they also helped more accurately realize the vision for the series.

The extra talent was especially useful in transforming a house — and the actors — for a flashback scene taking place in the 1980s, vintage wallpaper, mullets and all. Other challenges included filming a Christmas scene in mid-August, which required a fair share of out-of-season decoration shopping.

Ahedo says he’s most excited to see people’s reactions.

“It’s so surreal to scroll through Amazon Prime and see something you created on the list,” he says. “That’s exciting, and I can’t wait for people to see it. The pilot is sort of like the hook. The second episode reels you in.”